Her secret ingridient was love
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Daphne stumbles upon an old recipe box that belonged to Hester, and she suddenly thought of the perfect way to thank the Cranes for being her new family. What that would mean to them, she would never know


Daphne was tired, and of course, Mr. Crane had asked her to do him another "favor". She'd seen him race to the fridge enough times to grab himself a beer in between commercials of his precious football games to suspect maybe he wasn't as helpless as he'd wanted her to believe, but that was a conversation for another day. All she wanted to do was pop in a frozen pizza, retire to her room early, and call it a day.

She wasn't really the frozen food type gal, but after all of Mr. Crane's (and Dr. Crane's, for that matter) constant criticism of her cooking, and with the exhausting day she'd had, the last thing she really needed was to hear another complaint about how "unamerican" her food was. Really, boys, she thought as she carried the last of the boxes down to the storage unit.

Of course, she would have to spill the contents, in a hurry to just get this over with and go to bed. She was muttering to herself when she came across a little box. An index card box.

Curoisty got the better of her, and she opened up and was shocked to see it was no ordinary recipe box...it was Mrs. Crane's secret recipes, all put nicely in that little box.

You could almost smell fresh bread through the cards as she flipped through them.

Suddenly inspiration hit her. Yes, she was tired...but imagine the surprise if..no, she couldn't. She shouldn't.

But Daphne knew, despite her complaining about the Crane men, that there had to be a way to repay them for all of their kindnesses...and preparing one of Mrs. Crane's secret meals was just the ticket.

It could have been the best idea she'd ever come up with, or the very worst. But either way...she just had to show the Crane boys just how much they'd come to mean to her.

00000

It took Daphne a while to finish up...rolling up homemade noodles wasn't as easy as she'd wanted them to be. She had flour all over her, in her hair, on her forehead. But at last, the noodles were ready to be added to the chicken for the final touch of cooking them.

It wouldn't be much longer before dinner was ready (thank god; Mr. Crane bellowed out for his dinner every 8 minutes- he had been yelling out during every commercial break of the programs he was watching.

Typical Martin Crane, she smiled to herself as she reveled in the feeling that she was doing something big, very, very big for the men who she adored, for better or for worse.

00000

So finally, the table was set...all three Crane men (funny how Dr. Niles Crane ate their every single night...he was lonely from the divorce, she'd supposed. And how he did seem to be the only one who really appreciated her cooking!) sat down, and Martin sniffed around.

"It smells good in here," he smiled as he took his place at the table. "What'd you do, order out?"

Daphne fought back tears, and she just brought out the meal she'd put her heart and soul into preparing just for them.

Even fancy-pants Frasier didn't seem to have much of a complaint...all three of them took a bite, and the looks on their faces was thanks enough for the trouble she went to to ensure the recipe was just like Hester's.

Martin looked at Frasier, Niles, then Daphne. "This tastes familiar. Are you sure it's not a Marie Callender meal?"

"Dad!" Niles nudged him.

"What? It's just that I haven't had a meal this good since..." And then Martin's eyes widened, and before anyone could say another word, he threw his napkin to the table, grabbed his cane, and walked off to his bedroom, leaving behind his confused sons and a very hurt and tearful Daphne.

"It's okay, Daphne," Frasier counseled. "You know Dad..he can be quite the finicky eater..although after a day of snacking on beer nuts and Cheetos, you'd think he'd..."

"Frasier," Niles hushed him. "Daphne obviously worked hard at making dinner for us...Why Dad doesn't seem to appreciate it, I'll never..."

"It was your mother's," Daphne sighed as she dabbed away her tears. Ever the gentleman, Niles continued to listen as he offered her his handkerchief. "I found her recipe box in the storage shed. I just thought...oh, who knows what I was thinking!"

"Daphne!" Niles gasped, as Frasier smiled on, watching the scene unfold. "you...you really did that? I mean it's been some time since I've..oh dear Lord, Frasier. Taste the gravy! It is Mom's!"

Frasier didn't say a word as he smiled, patted Daphne on the head, and excused himself. He had to talk to his father. Niles was needed...elsewhere.

0000

"Dad? May I have a word?" Frasier knocked as he entered his father's bedroom.

"Is it ever just a word?" Martin complained as he turned around suddenly. "Go away, Frasier."

"Dad, I really think you owe it to Daphne..."

"I said go away!"

Frasier frowned, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught why his father was ordering him away. "Dad...are you crying?"

"No, I'm not crying! There was an onion in that damn dinner..." Martin reached for a tissue and blew his nose.

"I only think that works if you're the one cut...ah, yes. The onions," Frasier smiled. "That will get to the best of us every now and then."

"You know, that dinner...that was your mother's, wasn't it?" Martin asked quietly, still refusing to make eye contact with his son.

"Yes, Dad. Daphne told us how she was taking some boxes you'd given her to storage, and she stumbled across Mom's recipes, and how she just wanted to thank us..."

"I know what she was doing, and why she was doing it," Martin interrupted abruptly.

"Then I don't know why you were so harsh on Daphne..."

"She did it the same reason your mother cooked for us, and no matter how long of a shift I worked, no matter how much I was too tired to spend time with her...she always made sure I ate well."

Now Frasier felt like smiling. "She loved you."

Martin nodded. "Yeah, she did. Though heaven knows I wasn't the easiest man in the world to love."

"You don't have to tell me that," Frasier chuckled.

Martin, still teary eyed, turned and gave his son a dirty look, but before too long the two men were chuckling, thinking of how much Hester had to put up with to survive in a household of three males.

"Come on, Dad. Don't you think we owe it to Daphne to go out and enjoy this meal she put her heart into making for us?" Frasier smiled.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a second. And Frase..."

He turned around. "Yes, Dad?"

"Don't let Eddie steal my food. That little pig..."

Frasier laughed, and returned to the dining room table.

00000

Within a few minutes, Martin had composed himself and walked out to the dining area.

"Mr. Crane...I..."

"No," he put his hand in the air. "Sit down, Daphne. I need to...I need to tell you something. You too, boys. You both sit."

And on cue, Eddie sat down by Martin's recliner, and even a tearful Daphne had to smile at the obedient pet.

"Daphne.." Martin started. "I didn't walk away because I hated your cooking. I walked away because...well...I knew where you got this recipe. I could taste it the second I put it to my lips."

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Crane. It's just that you and your sons have become like family to me and I only wanted to make you..."

"I know, Daphne. I know. I just...it just hit me, that my wife is gone...all over again. I'll never be able to walk into my kitchen and see her balancing the baby, the stove, the phone...all at once. Little Frasier always under foot, wanting to correct her corrections to his homework...Niles just wanting to be held and cuddled...those were the days. I guess you don't know what you have until it's too late to appreciate them," Martin sighed, bringing tears to every member in that household.

"Dad, Mom knew you loved her. She did," Frasier spoke up.

"Yeah. I guess so."

No one said a word for a few minutes. Finally Martin looked at Niles. "You'd better make your claim on Daphne, son...if you don't marry her I just might myself."

Daphne burst out laughing, Niles looked frightful as his father had just revealed that Niles was in love with Daphne. But if Daphne thought anything of it, anything at all, she didn't let on. She just got up to warm up Martin's plate, and as she walked away, Niles sighed to herself. "You think I'll ever get to...do you think it's conceivable that one day I might come home to a nice dinner Daphne has prepared for our own little family?"

Frasier grinned. "I'm not a betting man...but I'd say, when the stars and the, pardon the pun, moons are lined up...I do believe your dreams of your family will come true."

Niles smiled at his brother, and they all sat together, in their little family that Hester had put so much care into loving all those years ago. Some day her legacy of love would entail that both of her sons would find love again...that Niles, the child she worried most over during her lifetime, would not only find a lifelong love, but a lifetime best friend. Someone who loved him and not only deserved her respect, but would earn Niles' heart forever.

Someday.

Th end


End file.
